KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KSNT) – Nickelodeon announced Monday that it is the entitlement sponsor of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Saturday, May 9 at the Kansas Speedway dubbed the SpongeBob SquarePants 400. The race will feature a weekend of Bikini Bottom-themed activities and fun for the entire family.

“The SpongeBob SquarePants 400 gives Nickelodeon the opportunity to expand its relationship with NASCAR, while working with a best-in-class track to give fans a unique, engaging and high-quality race experience that the whole family can enjoy,” said Pam Kaufman, Chief Marketing Officer and President of Consumer Products, Nickelodeon Group.

Kaufman said Nickelodeon has embarked on some great initiatives with NASCAR over the last decade, sponsoring and participating in marquee racing events that have resonated with motorsports.

“I’m excited to partner with Nickelodeon for the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 on May 9,” said Patrick Warren, Kansas Speedway President.

Warren said this is a great opportunity for them to engage SpongeBob fans of all ages to racing with a great partner.

Attendees will be able to enjoy some pre-Mother’s Day fun in the Nickelodeon Kids Zone, which will be located in the Kansas Speedway Fan Zone. The area will feature appearances from the SpongeBob SquarePants costumed characters, a SpongeBob SquarePants photo station and more.

The six-time Cup champion pulled away after a final restart with 13 laps to go at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The No. 48 Chevrolet was the fastest car on the track at the end of the weekend after the vehicle failed to get in a qualifying run because of inspection issues.

It was the 71st victory of Johnson’s career, and his fourth in Atlanta.

]]>http://ksnt.com/2015/03/01/jimmy-johnson-wins-at-atlanta/feed/0Mon, 02 Mar 2015 02:23:10 +0000Jimmie JohnsonksntmattgasperStolen No. 44 race car found in suburban Atlantahttp://ksnt.com/2015/02/28/stolen-no-44-race-car-found-in-suburban-atlanta/
http://ksnt.com/2015/02/28/stolen-no-44-race-car-found-in-suburban-atlanta/#commentsSat, 28 Feb 2015 22:19:36 +0000http://ksnt.com/?p=116595]]>HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — The No. 44 race car returned to its NASCAR shop in North Carolina on Saturday after it was recovered along a remote road in suburban Atlanta, apparently abandoned by the thieves who stole it from a hotel parking lot.

While the discovery didn’t occur in nearly enough time for Team XTREME to compete in this weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, it was a huge boost for the small-budget operation in its bid to make the next event at Las Vegas.

“There was no damage whatsoever,” team owner John Cohen told The Associated Press. “Nothing was taken off the car. Even the antennas that went to the radio were still in the seats.”

Police in Gwinnett County northeast of Atlanta received a suspicious vehicle call at approximately 2:30 a.m. Saturday, nearly 24 hours after the race car was stolen, said Jeffery Richter, the public information officer. A motorist spotted the No. 44 machine along a darkened road and quickly realized it must be the stolen race car.

Cohen was called to the scene, confirmed it was his $250,000 race car off the shoulder of the road, and called a tow truck to take it back to their shop in suburban Charlotte.

“It was backwoods,” Cohen said. “There were no lights around. (The thieves) made sure no one could see them while they were getting rid of the car.”

While the truck and trailer that were hauling the race car weren’t found at the scene, the truck was spotted a few hours later in Stockbridge, Georgia, not far from the hotel where the theft took place, said Morrow police Detective Sgt. Larry Oglesby, who led the investigation in the south Atlanta suburb.

“The truck was on the side of the road,” Oglesby said. “A citizen driving by noticed it and said, ‘Hey, that looks like the truck on TV.'”

He said the handle on the driver side door was busted, as well as the ignition switch. While no arrests had been made, Oglesby said his department had a “person of interest” and was continuing to pursue leads to determine just how many people were involved. He also identified a vehicle used by the thieves, which was spotted on a surveillance video.

There was still no sign of the trailer and its other contents, which included a spare engine valued at $100,000 and racing equipment valued at $17,500.

“We’ve got two out of three,” Oglesby said. “Now we’re looking for the trailer.”

The car was found about 20 miles from the hotel south of Atlanta where it was stolen early Friday. Since the truck and trailer had no markings to indicate they were part of a race team, police speculated that thieves likely didn’t realize what they had stolen and might abandon the high-powered car.

“Have you seen that show ’48 Hours?'” Cohen said. “I figured if we didn’t have it back in 48 hours, we were not getting the car back. The first 24 hours is crucial. It was definitely right at 24 hours when we got the car back.”

The team didn’t bring a backup car to Atlanta, so it had to withdraw from Sunday’s Sprint Cup race after missing Friday qualifying. Travis Kvapil was set to drive.

Since the No. 44 car wasn’t damaged, Cohen said it should be able to run at Las Vegas with Kvapil behind the wheel. The team also plans to send a backup car.

Kvapil is also set to run for Team XTREME the following week at Phoenix.

Normally, the car is transported using the team’s hauler, an 18-wheel tractor trailer. But, with a winter storm moving through the Southeast this past week, Cohen sent the hauler to Atlanta a couple of days early.

Back at its shop, the team continued putting in 18-hour days to prepare the car, a different version than the restrictor-plate version that raced in the season-opening Daytona 500. The No. 44 was sent to Atlanta late Thursday aboard the much-smaller trailer, accompanied by crew chief Peter Sospenzo and six other team members.

They got to Morrow, not far from the speedway, and stayed overnight at a hotel. The trailer, with the red race car inside, was parked outside along with the black 2004 Ford F-350 pickup truck. Surveillance video showed the truck and trailer being driven out of the parking lot shortly after 5:30 a.m., Oglesby said.

The team was scheduled to leave for the track at 5:45 a.m.

“I’ve been doing this since 1979,” Sospenzo said. “I’ve probably been to 1,200 hotels and 1,200 race tracks. Never once has this happened. It’s crazy. But there’s a first for everything, I guess.”

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — When Travis Kvapil got the call Friday, he figured someone on his race team was playing a joke.

“They said there was trouble with the car,” Kvapil said. “I thought we could figure it out when we got in the garage area. They’re like, ‘No, the car is gone.'”

The No. 44 NASCAR Sprint Cup car owned by small-budget Team XTREME was stolen from a hotel parking lot near Atlanta Motor Speedway, police said, forcing Kvapil to withdraw from this weekend’s race before he even got a chance to qualify.

The $250,000 race car was still missing late in the afternoon, and police were hoping the public could assist in the search. The owner of one NASCAR sponsor offered a pit pass to every race the rest of the year to anyone who helped located the high-powered Chevrolet.

“It’s insane,” said team owner John Cohen, who didn’t have a backup car to run in Atlanta.

For a few hours, the team held out hope of the car being found in time for qualifying Friday, but it was forced to withdraw when it missed NASCAR’s mandatory inspection.

“It’s really bizarre,” Kvapil said. “You can handle maybe getting a flat tire, or getting caught up in a wreck, or a blown engine, something that actually happens on the race track. Or you don’t qualify, because you don’t have enough speed. But to not even get a chance … that’s pretty disheartening.”

It was an especially tough blow for Team XTREME, which doesn’t have the funding of major multi-car operations such as Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. Despite a wreck in qualifying, the team managed to make the field for the season-opening Daytona 500 with Reed Sorenson behind the wheel. He finished 32nd in the race.

Sorenson switched to a different team for the Atlanta race, prompting Team XTREME to hire Kvapil, a one-time Sprint Cup regular who had only five starts in the top NASCAR series last season and was looking to make his first appearance of 2015.

“I was excited to be part of a small team and trying to build up with them,” Kvapil said. “Personally, it’s a big setback.”

A trailer with the red race car inside was hitched to a black 2004 Ford F-350 pickup truck parked outside a hotel in Morrow, Georgia, about 15 miles south of Atlanta and a short drive from the speedway, police said. Surveillance video showed the truck and trailer being driven out of the parking lot around 5:30 a.m., Morrow police Detective Sgt. Larry Oglesby said.

The team, which had been working 18-hour days to get the car ready for Atlanta, was scheduled to leave for the track at 5:45 a.m., and a crewman had been outside a few minutes before the theft, smoking a cigarette.

“I’ve been doing this since 1979,” crew chief Peter Sospenzo said. “I’ve probably been to 1,200 hotels and 1,200 race tracks. Never once has this happened. It’s crazy. But there’s a first for everything, I guess.”

The trailer is plain white with no markings. The person who stole it likely didn’t realize the race car was inside, and may have thought it was lawn equipment or something else he could easily sell, Oglesby said.

“Hopefully they’ll open this one up and say, ‘Oh no, this isn’t what we thought,’ and will drop it off at the nearest vacant lot or apartment complex or somewhere,” he said.

Normally, the car would have been transported using the team’s hauler, an 18-wheel tractor trailer. But, with a winter storm moving through the Southeast this week, Cohen sent the hauler to Atlanta earlier in the week. Back at the shop, the team was still working on the car, a different version than the one that ran under restrictor-plate rules in Daytona. It was sent separately to Atlanta late Thursday after the storm cleared out, accompanied by Sospenzo and six other crew members.

“My whole plan backfired,” said Cohen, who has been running a Sprint Cup car since 2012 and is one of the few African-Americans involved in NASCAR’s top series.

In addition to the race car, the trailer also contained a spare engine valued at $100,000 and racing equipment valued at $17,500, according to a police report. Even so, Cohen vowed the team would return for next weekend’s race in Las Vegas.

Kvapil said the thieves probably won’t be able to cash in on their surprising haul.

“There’s really no use for it out in the general public,” he said. “I hope they realize that and will leave it somewhere where the police can find it.”

The theft gave NASCAR star Jeff Gordon a new perspective.

When his crew chief was complaining about the way the No. 24 car was running before practice, Gordon told him, “It would be a lot worse. Our car could’ve been stolen.”

Then Gordon turned serous, saying: “I hate it for Travis and those guys. I hope they get to the bottom of it.”

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Busch has been released from the hospital following surgery on his left foot after breaking it during a crash at Daytona International Speedway.

Dr. Robert Anderson of OrthoCarolina performed the surgery on Wednesday.

Busch broke his right leg and left foot Saturday in the Xfinity Series race when he crashed into a concrete wall at Daytona. He missed the season-opening Daytona 500 and is out indefinitely. He had surgery on his leg after the crash.

He was transferred Tuesday from Daytona to Charlotte, where he was released Friday.

David Ragan is driving the No. 18 Toyota this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Busch’s sponsor put “Get well, Kyle!” on the back of the car.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Busch has undergone surgery on his left foot, broken in a hard crash at Daytona International Speedway.

Dr. Robert Anderson of OrthoCarolina performed the surgery Wednesday. Anderson is a noted specialist who has treated NFL players Matt Schaub and Ahmad Bradshaw and retired baseball players Derek Jeter and Chipper Jones.

Busch broke his right leg and left foot Saturday in the Xfinity Series race when he crashed into a concrete wall at Daytona. He missed the season-opening Daytona 500 and is out indefinitely.

He was transferred Tuesday from Daytona to Charlotte, where he’s undergoing further treatment.

Joe Gibbs Racing said the surgery on his foot was a success, and is Busch will remain hospitalized for observation.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Regan Smith was quick to accept an offer to race in the Daytona 500 as Kurt Busch’s replacement driver.

He did have one slight concern, though, about spending an additional day in Florida. His pregnant wife, Megan, was at home in North Carolina expecting their first child. But he said the couple agreed in advance that should she go into labor, he should complete his races before heading home.

“I’ve asked her to keep her legs crossed as long as she can if she does go into labor,” Smith joked at Daytona International Speedway last weekend.

Everything worked out just fine for the Smiths, who welcomed son Rhett Lee on Wednesday, an off day for NASCAR drivers.

Quick fun fact, Rhett was born on the same day as my childhood favorite driver, Davey Allison. Very cool.

The baby had a short window to arrive: Smith gets back on track Thursday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he’ll drive Busch’s car for Stewart-Haas Racing in an open NASCAR test. He’s slated to fill his regular role as Xfinity Series driver for JR Motorsports all weekend, and do double-duty in the Sprint Cup Series for SHR. Busch has been indefinitely suspended by NASCAR.

Smith, who ran four full seasons in the Cup series from 2008 through 2012, has spent the last two as a full-time driver for JR Motorsports in NASCAR’s second-tier series. But he has been a super substitute a handful of times the last few years.

Smith filled in unexpectedly for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2012 when Earnhardt was sidelined with a concussion, and he flew in on race day last year at Watkins Glen when SHR needed an emergency substitute for Tony Stewart.

Now he’s making his second start for Busch, who was suspended Friday. But with 173 career Cup starts, Smith thinks he’s capable of moving car-to-car and stepping in wherever needed.

“I think the fortunate thing is that I’ve done enough Cup races to where I’m familiar with most of the cars,” he said. “They all take their own kind of shape and form. You make the most of them. I don’t think anybody wants to be in the scenario where you have to sub under circumstances, whatever they may be.

“And with that said, if it happens, you want to make the most of that opportunity.”

___

KYLE BUSCH-FUTURE RACING: Kyle Busch is back in North Carolina receiving treatment on his broken right leg and broken left foot, and it’s not clear how long he’ll be sidelined.

But when he does return to racing, it’s unlikely that team owner Joe Gibbs will limit his racing outside the Sprint Cup Series. Busch was injured Saturday in the season-opening Xfinity Series race at Daytona, a day before the Daytona 500.

Gibbs said it’s hard to hold Busch back because aside from his wife, Samantha, racing is all he has. Busch owns a NASCAR Truck Series team at Kyle Busch Motorsports.

“Let’s think about it for a minute, he has his own race team, loves that, wants to race it, it’s a big part of him and Sam and his future,” Gibbs said. “So you kind of think about that and you know he’s going to be racing some trucks. He has Sam and he has racing. He loves it.”

JGR tried to cut Busch’s schedule in 2012, when he ran just three Truck Series races and 22 events in Xfinity. The reduction in races made him miserable and he had one of the worst seasons of his career: He won one race, missed the Chase, and went winless in Xfinity and Trucks.

“At one point there in his career, we did cut back quite a bit and it was one of the tougher years,” Gibbs said. “I felt like in his case, he just loves it so much and felt like it was something that really makes his happy, keeps him excited about life and you always wrestle with that.”

___

BOWYER-FOX ANALYST: Clint Bowyer is the latest driver to be added to the Fox and Fox Sports 1 coverage of the Xfinity Series.

Bowyer will be the analyst alongside Adam Alexander and Michael Waltrip for next month’s race at Fontana, California, and the May race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Bowyer is the fifth Sprint Cup Series driver to be added to the rotation. Kevin Harvick was in the booth for last week’s season-opener, and Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski and Danica Patrick also have upcoming races scheduled.

Harvick said he enjoyed his time in the booth more than he expected.

“I felt like you bring that perspective to the booth of right off the race track and being able to really relate to what’s going on out of the race track,” he said. “It is something I definitely enjoyed and had a lot of fun doing.”

___

BIG BILL: A new book about NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. will be released next week, and it marks the first official biography of the man who organized stock car racing.

“Big Bill: The Life and Times of NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr.,” will be released March 3 by Random House. It’s written by H.A. “Herb” Branham, a former journalist and NASCAR public relations executive who now runs the International Speedway Corporation’s Archives and Research Center in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Branham said he had unfettered access to write the book, with no interference from the France family. He’d already written “Bill France Jr.: The Man who Made NASCAR,” so there was no apprehension about Branham’s 357-page prequel.

Using a conversational style, Branham tells the story of France’s creation of NASCAR as a way to incorporate stock car racing in late 1947. He built Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, and ruled as a dictator.

Branham said he enjoyed the interviews he conducted as part of the book, particularly a lengthy sit-down with A.J. Foyt, who grew emotional discussing France.

“I didn’t really see that coming, but A.J. had a reverence for Bill France, felt like he’d been a father-figure to A.J., and really credited him for much of what he accomplished in his career,” Branham said.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — International Speedway Corp. is developing a plan for the installation of additional SAFER barriers at Daytona and Talladega, and will review the safety standards at its other racetracks.

The renewed focus announced Tuesday by ISC President John Saunders comes three days after NASCAR star Kyle Busch broke his right leg and left foot in a crash into a concrete wall at Daytona International Speedway.

Busch left a Daytona Beach, Florida, hospital on Tuesday and was transferred to another facility in North Carolina for further treatment.

Busch was injured Saturday in the season-opening Xfinity Series race when his car hit an interior wall that did not have a Steel and Foam Energy Reduction barrier.

After his accident, Daytona president Joie Chitwood III vowed to cover every inch of the speedway with SAFER barriers.

Daytona is owned by ISC, the sister company of NASCAR.

Saunders said ISC is “developing a significant plan” for more impact-absorbing technologies that will not be limited to SAFER barriers for Daytona and Talladega.

ISC will also immediately review Phoenix International Raceway and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, as both tracks host NASCAR races in March.

“We will utilize all available tools to ensure the safety of the drivers and our fans. It will remain our top priority,” Saunders said in a statement. “ISC is working very closely with NASCAR and industry experts to identify areas for additional safety protections.”

SAFER barriers were one of the many safety initiatives that came about after Dale Earnhardt’s death in 2001 in an accident on the last lap of the Daytona 500.

The soft walls were developed by Dr. Dean Sicking at the University of Nebraska, and although they debuted in 2002 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they are currently installed in some form at every track used by NASCAR’s top series.

The barriers, a combination of steel and foam, cost about $500 a foot. But, the cost has proven worth it as the walls absorb the energy during impact and have repeatedly lessened injuries sustained to a driver.

Still, they have not been placed everywhere around the racetracks. Tracks only install SAFER barriers where NASCAR recommends to them they should be placed. NASCAR, meanwhile, cites evaluations of high-impact areas in deciding where the material should be placed.

There have been numerous hard hits over the years in areas that were not protected with SAFER barrier, and it often has been rectified by the time the series returns. In 2013, Denny Hamlin hit an unprotected section of wall in Fontana, California, that caused a fractured vertebra.

NASCAR had Auto Club Speedway install SAFER barrier where Hamlin hit before the series returned last year. Las Vegas Motor Speedway did the same following a hard Jeff Gordon hit in 2008.

Reigning Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick hit the same wall Busch did in last year’s Daytona 500, and was critical of the lack of SAFER barrier immediately following his own accident. He was pleased that Daytona was reacting after Busch’s injury, but felt it was a bit late.

“The racetracks have to be proactive and they have to look ahead of an accident,” Harvick said. “We know what fixes these walls, and that’s to put a wall in front of them.”

Even before ISC’s announcement Tuesday that it would get additional SAFER barriers in at least two of its tracks, other facilities were being proactive in the wake of Busch’s injury.

Atlanta Motor Speedway, host of this weekend’s NASCAR races, reviewed its existing SAFER barriers on Monday and said it will enhance the existing barrier system before NASCAR arrives on Thursday.

The protective wall at the exit of Atlanta’s pit road near Turn 1 will be extended, and a tire barrier will be added along the inside wall of Turn 4. The installations will add a total of 130 linear feet of additional protective barrier prior to this weekend’s racing.

The track will consider future installation of additional SAFER barriers after Sunday’s race.

Kentucky Speedway will add additional soft walls to the backstrech before NASCAR arrives in July.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway said it was already planning for additional SAFER barriers to be installed this year, but is now reviewing the plan to see if NASCAR will recommend even more soft walls.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — David Ragan will drive Kyle Busch’s car in the Sprint Cup Series this weekend at Atlanta, while 18-year-old Erik Jones will drive Busch’s car in the Xfinity Series.

Busch broke his right leg and left foot when he crashed head-on into a concrete wall Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. He left the Florida hospital on Tuesday and was transferred to one in Charlotte for further treatment.

Ragan will drive the No. 18 Toyota for at least the next several weeks. The move was accommodated by Front Row Motorsports, the team Ragan currently drives for, and sponsor CSX.

Jones will drive the No. 54 Toyota in Saturday’s race. Busch was driving the No. 54 in the Xfinity Series opener when he was injured.

Joe Gibbs Racing said additional lineup changes to the Xfinity car will be made moving forward. Jones currently runs a full season in the Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports and a partial Xfinity schedule for JGR in the No. 20.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

“It was a great day, a really good event, and we enjoyed it,” NASCAR chairman Brian France said Monday on SiriusXM NASCAR radio.

After Jeff Gordon, racing in his final Daytona 500, led the field to green, he set the pace and led a race-high 87 laps as the event settled into a rhythm. With anticipation building for the final 50 miles, known as go-time at superspeedways because the intensity inches toward its fevered pitch, the racing picked up tremendously.

Drivers fanned out three-wide all the way through the field as cars rode door-to-door in some of the most breathtaking racing in years. It was Joey Logano for Team Penske who grabbed the checkered flag, albeit under caution because when the racing is that frenzied, something is always going to give. A wreck in the middle of the field occurred on the last lap of the two-lap sprint to the finish, and NASCAR threw the yellow flag that froze the field.

Logano, a 24 year old from Connecticut who is cementing himself as one of NASCAR’s next stars, drove to victory lane. The drivers who finished second, third and fourth headed for post-race media obligations, their moods light and playful even though they’d failed to catch Logano with the win on the line.

That last-lap caution? Maybe it robbed NASCAR of a potentially spectacular finish, but after 10 messy days, everyone just needed a drama-free event.

The first exhibition of Speedweeks, with drivers racing for the first time since November, lived up to what it always has been: A crash-fest with only a dozen or so cars running at the end. It’s a product of the race not counting toward anything of significant value, and drivers shaking the rust off after an idle offseason.

But things went amiss during the first round of Daytona 500 qualifying, which was an absolute debacle under a new format. An accident in the first group session sent several drivers to backup cars, and NASCAR’s biggest stars pounced on the sanctioning body for creating something that favored entertainment over practicality and speed.

The final session was calculated scheming, as drivers idled on pit road watching a clock tick down before they made a hurried last-gasp run for the pole. It was a mockery of the system and NASCAR needed just three days before it set restrictions in place for the Xfinity and Truck Series qualifying.

The new rules didn’t help much — Xfinity qualifying was marked by its own multi-car pileup.

Danica Patrick had her share of drama after a pair of incidents with Denny Hamlin forced her into two different backup cars. After their second fracas, she angrily confronted him on pit road for a heated confrontation that Hamlin repeatedly tried to soften by placing his hand on her shoulder while presenting a measured defense.

The two made up a day later, but attention swiftly moved on to real-life issues and away from the typical NASCAR controversy.

A Delaware family judge issued a lengthy opinion that found Kurt Busch almost certainly committed a domestic assault against an ex-girlfriend last fall. NASCAR immediately suspended the 2004 champion, and Busch urgently tried to appeal.

He spent several hours Saturday before a three-judge panel, which ultimately upheld his indefinite suspension. He filed to have his case heard before NASCAR’s final appeals officer, and the hearing was scheduled for the eve of the Daytona 500.

But as Busch prepared his defense, younger brother, Kyle, was in a violent crash into a concrete wall during Saturday’s Xfinity race. He broke his right leg, his left foot, and forced Daytona officials to admit they had failed in safety precautions by not having a SAFER barrier where Busch hit the wall.

The track vowed to cover every inch of the speedway in expensive SAFER barriers to atone for its error, but it was too late for Kyle Busch. He was in surgery at the same time the appeals officer denied Kurt Busch’s attempt to be reinstated for the Daytona 500.

For the first time since 2000, a Busch brother was not in the Daytona 500, and both are out for an undetermined length of time.

So by the time the actual event rolled around, it was time for just one easy day.

NASCAR got it, along with a new winner and every indication that this season might be one very bumpy ride.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SHR made the announcement Monday, one day after Smith drove the No. 41 Chevrolet to a 16th-place finish in the Daytona 500. Smith will be behind the wheel for Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It will be his seventh Sprint Cup Series start at the track.

The 2008 Cup Series rookie of the year, Smith also will continue driving full time in the Xfinity Series.

NASCAR suspended Busch last week after a Delaware judge said the 2004 champion almost surely choked and beat his former girlfriend at Dover International Speedway last fall. Chevrolet suspended ties with Busch, but SHR has not decided who will drive at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next week.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Joey Logano had a shot to win the NASCAR championship last year. A flawed late pit stop cost him the chance, and he went into the offseason determined to get back into contention again.

A win in the season-opening Daytona 500 on Sunday gave Logano the head start he wanted. His victory earned him an automatic berth into the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, and put him at the front of the field after a week dominated by the biggest names in NASCAR.

He was motivated by a sign in the Team Penske gymnasium that reads, “Effort equals results.” That one phrase inspired Logano to put in countless hours watching video of past superspeedway races with his crew chief and his spotter.

“We did everything we possibly could to prepare ourselves for this race,” Logano said. “It’s so cool to see that phrase come to life: Effort equals results.”

More than two years after nearly washing out of one of NASCAR’s top rides, Logano won the biggest race of his career by outlasting the field over a white-knuckle final 50 miles of three-wide racing.

The victory, which came under caution as a late wreck froze the field and allowed Logano to coast across the finish line, was another nod to the job Roger Penske has done with the driver he hired for the start of the 2013 season. Nicknamed “Sliced Bread” when he broke into the Sprint Cup Series at 18 because so many predicted him to be the next big thing, Logano found himself searching for a new job after four underwhelming seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Penske snatched him up, jump-started his career and got his second Daytona 500 victory via Logano. One of the most respected team owners in motorsports, “The Captain” also has a record 15 Indianapolis 500 wins.

Logano reflected after the win on the end of his run with Gibbs and the uncertainty he had about his future at just 22 years old.

“Some of the emotions you go through, you start to think, ‘Man, am I going to have a job next year?’ That’s kind of hard as a race car driver,” Logano said. “I poured all my eggs in one basket. You don’t know what’s going to happen.

“Who would ever guess three years down the road we’d be sitting here saying we’re Daytona 500 champions? That’s crazy. Life is a roller-coaster.”

Logano became the second-youngest Daytona 500 winner behind Trevor Bayne, who was 20 when he pulled off an upset in 2011.

The win ended a week that began with all the attention on Jeff Gordon in his final Daytona 500, the suspension of Kurt Busch and the injury to Kyle Busch in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.

Here’s a look at some of the other things that happened in the Daytona 500:

___

FINAL RIDE: Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon wrecked on the last lap of his final Daytona 500. Gordon started on the pole for the “Great American Race” and led 77 of the first 100 laps. But Austin Dillon spun him on the last lap, and he sputtered across the finish line in 33rd. “I’m a little bit sad this is my final Daytona 500,” Gordon said, “but I’m more upset we didn’t have a shot at winning there at the end.”

___

REPEAT DENIED: Dale Earnhardt Jr. lost his chance to become the first repeat Daytona 500 winner since Sterling Marlin in 1995. Earnhardt stalked the leaders late until a strategic error on a restart with 19 laps left dumped him from contention. Earnhardt rallied for a third-place finish in his first race with new crew chief Greg Ives. “We had a really fast car, maybe the best car here,” Earnhardt said.

___

UP IN SMOKE: Tony Stewart’s Daytona drought continues. Stewart was involved in a five-car accident early in the 500, ruining his chances of winning the race. Stewart is winless in 17 tries in NASCAR’S premier event. “Well, it’s just part of it,” Stewart said. “It’s not what we had planned.” Stewart was hoping to end the losing streak after two tumultuous years, but he ended up with a 42nd-place finish.

___

THE REPLACEMENTS: Regan Smith and Matt Crafton were in the spotlight and out of contention. It was about what should have been expected from two guys who got little or no practice time leading into the race. Smith, filling in for suspended Kurt Busch of Stewart-Haas Racing, finished 16th. Crafton, a last-minute sub for injured Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing, was 18th. Neither was a factor. “It’s a pretty gnarly learning curve,” said Crafton, a two-time Truck Series champion making his 500 debut.

___

FORD FIESTA: Ford swept every points race at Daytona, culminating with Logano’s victory. It was the first time the automaker has accomplished the feat. Tyler Reddick won the Truck Series opener. Ryan Reed followed with a victory in the Xfinity Series opener. Throw in Chip Ganassi Racing’s win in the Rolex 24 at Daytona last month, which came in a Ford Riley Prototype, and it was a Ford fiesta at the famed track. “(We) deserve a high-five or something,” Logano said.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Replacement drivers Regan Smith and Matt Crafton were in the spotlight and out of contention in the Daytona 500.

Smith, filling in for suspended Kurt Busch of Stewart-Haas Racing, finished 16th. Crafton, a last-minute sub for injured Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing, crossed the finish line less than 2 seconds later in 18th.

It was about what should have been expected from guys who got little or no practice time leading into the “Great American Race.”

Smith stepped into the No. 41 Chevrolet on Saturday, a day after NASCAR suspended Kurt Busch indefinitely. A Delaware judge said the 2004 champion almost surely choked and beat his former girlfriend at Dover International Speedway last fall.

Smith turned a handful of laps in Saturday’s final practice session, but did no drafting. He raced in the Xfinity Series opener later that day and ended up flipping in a multicar wreck.

He stayed out of trouble in his seventh Daytona 500, but wasn’t a factor.

“I anticipated a better day,” Smith said. “I’m frustrated we didn’t get up there and at least contend to leading some laps. I wanted to make a little better show of it. That was disappointing. But just running this race is a big deal. I’d rather be racing than sitting at home.”

It’s unclear whether Smith will be behind the wheel again next week in Atlanta. Car owner Gene Haas, who funds the car out of his pocket because of his affinity for Busch, declined to answer any questions about the odd situation before Sunday’s race.

Smith sounded unsure, too.

“I have no idea,” he said. “That’s a question for the team. I don’t know.”

Crafton, a two-time defending Truck Series champion, got no seat time in the No. 18 Toyota before the race. Kyle was ruled out after breaking his right leg and left foot in a harrowing crash Saturday in the Xfinity Series season opener.

Busch slammed into a concrete wall that had no SAFER barrier, the energy-absorbing divider that has helped revolutionize NASCAR safety since Dale Earnhardt’s death at Daytona in 2001.

Busch had surgery on his leg Saturday night. His foot will be examined when he returns to Charlotte, North Carolina, by specialist Dr. Robert Anderson.

Crafton, meanwhile, was driving back to North Carolina in his motorhome Saturday when his phone started ringing. He was measured for Busch’s seat — the rushed fitting ended up causing cramps during the race — and then flew back to Daytona later that night.

Although he has raced several times at the high-banked superspeedway, this was his first Daytona 500 start. He was caught up in a last-lap wreck, but managed to get across the finish line.

“It was a learning curve,” Crafton said. “The first half we just rode around and tried to learn, learn, learn. I made a mistake. I had a pretty good surge up top and I tried the bottom and shuffled myself all the way to the back. I should have had a little better finish there at the end, but it is what it is.

“It’s a pretty gnarly learning curve.”

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Given the month Ford enjoyed at Daytona International Speedway, it’s no wonder Allison and his guys emptied the cooler.

Ford swept every points race at Daytona, culminating with Joey Logano’s victory in the Daytona 500 on Sunday. It was the first time the automaker had accomplished the feat.

“It feels great,” said Allison, Ford’s director of North American Motorsport. “I feel like every Ford employee and every Ford fan, just elation. How could you not be elated over spending a weekend in Daytona — this is kind of the Holy Grail — and to walk away with literally a sweep, you just pinch yourself. Dreams don’t take you that far.”

It’s a reality now, thanks to the biggest win in Logano’s career.

The driver nicknamed “Sliced Bread” held off a host of challengers over the final laps to give team owner Roger Penske his second Daytona 500 title.

Logano spent seven years trying to live up to impossible expectations after breaking into the Sprint Cup Series at 18. But after four lackluster seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing, Logano landed at Penske and rejuvenated his career.

Logano’s run wasn’t worry-free. Two Ford drivers — teammate Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney — blew engines in the race. That prompted questions and concern from just about everybody in Logano’s pit, including Allison and several other Ford execs.

“I think everybody’s fingers became crossed fingers,” Allison said. “When you see two of those on the same team, you start to wonder. … You don’t know how it’s going to turn out. At the end, we prevailed.”

In every race, too.

Ford driver Tyler Reddick won the Truck Series season opener Friday night, ending Toyota’s eight-year winning streak at Daytona. Ford’s Ryan Reed followed that win with a victory Saturday in the Xfinity Series opener.

Throw in Chip Ganassi Racing’s win in the Rolex 24 at Daytona last month, and it’s been a Ford festival at the famed track.

“This is sports, and in sports, momentum matters,” he said. “And we have a momentum coming out of Daytona. So, you know, it feels great, all the teams feel great. At the end of the day, it will translate into confidence, which will manifest itself into coming out of the gate as fast as you can.”

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Jeff Gordon was mobbed as he weaved his way from pit road through the Daytona garage and back to his hauler.

Fans in No. 24 apparel pleaded with Gordon for an autograph, a picture. Most of all, they begged for his return.

“Thank you, Jeff!”

“One more time!”

“Jeff, come back!”

Gordon briefly paused for a few signatures before retreating inside. But if the four-time NASCAR champion had a sliver of thought of a return next season to the superspeedway, the scene above reminded him why he walked away — his battered Chevy slowly lifted into the car bay.

Gordon wrecked on the last lap of his final Daytona 500, a crushing end to the start of his final season.

“I’m a little bit sad this is my final Daytona 500,” Gordon said, “but I’m more upset we didn’t have a shot at winning there at the end.”

Austin Dillon turned Gordon in the middle of a huge pack vying for position in the closing two miles at Daytona International Speedway.

Gordon spun, banged into other cars and then eventually sputtered across the finish line in 33rd place.

It wasn’t what Gordon had hoped, but it proved what he said heading into the race: that the risk of racing at superspeedways isn’t worth the reward.

Gordon started on the pole for the “Great American Race” and showed plenty of speed early, leading 77 of the first 100 laps. He was at the front of the field at the midway point, a bad omen for everyone at Daytona.

The last halfway leader to end up in victory lane was Davey Allison in 1992.

“I’m not going to miss those final laps,” Gordon said. “That was just crazy.”

He savored the start so much more.

Gordon walked hand-in-hand with his two young children during race introductions as the packed Daytona grandstands roared for him in February for the final time. He led his daughter, Ella, to the No. 24 that had been swallowed by fans and journalists on pit road. His wife, Ingrid Vandebosch, was mic’d up on her canary yellow dress for the big day. Gordon hugged team owner Rick Hendrick.

Gordon called his family one major reason why he’ll step away from full-time racing. As he watched Daytona 500 champion Joey Logano celebrate nearby with his family, Gordon appreciated the moment.

“That moment you saw there with his dad that is what it’s all about,” Gordon said. “These types of moments, such a big race it means so much to all of us. You want to share that with the people that you are closest to that have been there along the way.”

Gordon won the Daytona 500 in 1997, 1999 and 2005. He finished fourth last season, snapping a string of lackluster finishes for the Hendrick Motorsports star. He finished no better than 20th from 2010-2013.

His early run on Sunday was about as dominant as the No. 24 could go and he was in control until a caution just beyond the midway point derailed him

“That one restart, I chose the outside,” Gordon said. “I was really basing it off who I thought was behind me that could push me. We just didn’t go. The inside lane went better. We got shuffled back. And we just never recovered after that. We were doing everything we could.”

His fans really didn’t mind much.

After one teen boy got his hat autographed, he yelled, ‘Yes! I got him!”

Gordon wished he could have got one more, too.

“I enjoyed every moment of it. I enjoyed the pre-race and the race,” he said, “all the way up to that wreck.”

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About 5,100 tweets and one year later, Earnhardt lamented on Twitter his lost shot at back-to-back championships.

“That car should have won the race,” he tweeted Sunday.

Earnhardt stalked the leaders late until a mistake on a restart with 19 laps left dumped him from contention. Earnhardt rallied for a third-place finish in his first race with new crew chief Greg Ives.

“I’ve got a great team,” Earnhardt said. “I feel like Greg is going to be awesome.”

Earnhardt led 32 laps in the No. 88 Chevrolet and had the checkered flag in sight until that restart misstep knocked him to 20th.

“I thought (Jimmie Johnson) was on the quarter panel and he was going to get a good run down the back and I wanted to get in behind him,” he said. “Somebody got on the outside and I was stuck in the middle then. Just a bad decision. I should have stayed on the bottom and been a little more patient.”

Earnhardt, who won one of last week’s Daytona qualifying races, finished behind winner Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick.

“We had a really fast car, maybe the best car here,” Earnhardt said.

Earnhardt lost his chance to become the first repeat Daytona 500 winner since Sterling Marlin in 1994-95.

He parlayed that win into an automatic spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. That took some of the pressure off his Hendrick Motorsports team, and he responded with his best season in a decade. He won four races with 12 top fives.

He drove in 2014 with house money until the Chase.

“It makes the rest of the season a whole lot different,” he said. “You can get a lot more aggressive on pit road with fuel mileage and stuff. Worked great for us last year.”

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Stewart was involved in a five-car accident early in NASCAR’s season opener Sunday, sustaining enough damage to his No. 14 Chevrolet that it ended his chances of winning the “Great American Race.”

Stewart is winless in 17 tries in NASCAR’S premier event.

“Well, it’s just part of it,” said Stewart, the driver nicknamed “Smoke.” ”It’s not what we had planned.”

Stewart was hoping to end the losing streak after two tumultuous years, but he seemingly started the wreck on lap 41. Stewart moved up the track, got loose and triggered the minor mess. Stewart’s car turned right and slammed into the outside wall, damaging his right-front tire and steering.

Stewart spent significant time in the garage for repairs, got back on track for some meaningless laps and then called it a day with about 50 laps remaining.

He finished 42nd — the fourth time he’s been 40th or worse in the 500.

Matt Kenseth, Michael Waltrip, Jamie McMurray and Ryan Blaney also were involved in the accident.

But Stewart drew all the attention — mostly because of his losing streak. He parked his car in the garage, climbed out and was cordial while conceding another defeat at Daytona.

He could have stayed on track until the end, but opted to stay out of the way down the stretch.

“We ran as many laps as we could,” he said. “We couldn’t run any more laps and gain anything. It’s the biggest race of the year, and the last thing you want to do is stay out there and have something else happen to get in the middle of something. Let’s just let those guys have their day.”

Stewart’s good days were few and far between the last two years.

He broke his right leg in a sprint car accident in 2013. Although he got back in the car last year, he wasn’t 100 percent and it showed in his performance. Then he fatally struck Kevin Ward Jr. in an August sprint car race in upstate New York, and retreated for three weeks to grieve.

Stewart was not himself when he returned, but used this past offseason to recharge and refocus.

He showed up at Daytona with a bounce in his step — feeling more confident than cursed — and no one would have been surprised to see him end the streak.

“To be a driver that can cross off one of those marquee events as a winner, that cements your legacy in motorsports,” Stewart said last week. “To be able to win the Daytona 500 is the ultimate dream of a race car driver.”

His quest will have to wait at least another year.

He’s had his chances, too, most notably in 2008 when Ryan Newman edged him as neared the finish line. Even now, seven years later, he feels like he lost that race more than Newman won it. Newman got pushed to the win by teammate Kurt Busch.

Winning the Daytona 500 does not consume Stewart the way he once was about reaching victory lane at his beloved Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His desire — an all-encompassing yearning, really — ate at him until his breakthrough victory at Indy in 2005.

Daytona doesn’t bug him the same way, perhaps because he is NASCAR’s winningest active driver at the superspeedway despite his record in the Daytona 500.

Between the July Sprint Cup race at Daytona, exhibitions, the second-tier Xfinity Series and the former IROC series, Stewart has won at Daytona 19 times. He trails only Dale Earnhardt, who had 34.

But the Daytona 500 can be a fluky race, complete with random winners. And someone has to be the odd man out. Earnhardt finally won the Daytona 500 in 1998, in his 20th try.

Stewart understands that’s how it goes at Daytona.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Joe Gibbs is unsure how long Kyle Busch will be sidelined with a broken right leg and left foot from a crash at Daytona International Speedway.

Busch had surgery on his right leg in Daytona after Saturday’s crash in the Xfinity Series race. His foot will be examined when he returns to Charlotte, North Carolina, by specialist Dr. Robert Anderson, Gibbs said.

“Time or length, I haven’t really, I don’t have a good understanding with that from the doctors,” the team owner said, referring to a timetable for recovery.

Gibbs described Busch as in a light and joking mood before surgery. Joe Gibbs Racing management, several NASCAR officials, drivers and Busch’s wife, Samantha, were at the hospital during surgery.

“I can tell you this, Kyle is already telling Sam, ‘Hey, I just want to get back to racing,'” Gibbs said. “He has a great spirit about that.”

The couple tweeted support for Crafton just before the race started Sunday, with Samantha Busch sharing a picture of the couple with one of their small dogs, a Pomeranian Yorkie named Lucy.

“Would rather b driving than watching the #Daytona500 but pulling 4 @Matt_Crafton and the No. 18 @mmschocolate team,” the driver said. In his wife’s photo, he wore a spotted hospital gown.

Busch sustained a compound fracture to his lower right leg and broke a bone in the middle of his left foot in the crash with eight laps remaining. His car slammed head-on into an interior wall that did not have an energy-absorbing barrier.

The injury is similar but not as severe as Tony Stewart’s from an August 2013 sprint car crash. Stewart sustained a double compound fracture and missed the final 15 races of that year. He was not cleared to get in a race car until almost six months after the accident. Stewart has also had four operations on his leg.

Gibbs wasn’t sure what’s next for Busch.

“The lower part of his leg is all taken care of and we’ll have Dr. Anderson and his group look at the foot,” Gibbs said. “As far as going back to Charlotte, we are on standby with the plane. Whenever he feels like he can travel, we’ll get him back to Charlotte.”

Meanwhile, Gibbs was not angry at the lack of SAFER barrier in the wall that Busch hit on Saturday night. Following the accident, track president Joie Chitwood promised to cover every inch of the speedway with the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction barriers beginning Monday.

Chitwood had crews placing tire barriers in front of the wall that Busch hit late Saturday night to give added protection before the Daytona 500.

Reigning NASCAR champion Kevin Harvick felt the gesture was a bit too late. Harvick hit the same wall in last year’s Daytona 500 and was critical then of the lack of SAFER barrier.

“Unfortunately I was just a dot on the chart, and there was no reaction,” Harvick said. “Now there’s a reaction from the race track. So hopefully there is a lesson learned. The race tracks have to be proactive and they have to look ahead. We know what fixes these walls, and that’s to put a wall in front of them.”

He called the absence of the polarizing Busch from the Daytona 500 “a big hit for everybody in this race.” But Harvick didn’t think the pace will be any different on Sunday.

“We’re going to tear up some race cars today just because that’s how you race here,” Harvick said. “The cars aren’t making the mistakes, it’s the drivers. You are going to have to be aggressive. I don’t see that changing with what’s on the line today to win the Daytona 500. Everybody is going to push and shove and do what they have to do to put themselves in position to win.”

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Busch was injured late in Saturday’s race when his car slammed head-on into an interior wall at Daytona International Speedway. He was only able to climb halfway through his window and was pointing in the direction of his right leg when rescue personnel arrived.

Busch was pulled from the car and laid on the ground, and his leg appeared to be stabilized in a splint before he was placed on a stretcher then into an ambulance. He was transported to a hospital, and NASCAR announced roughly an hour later that Busch won’t participate Sunday in the Sprint Cup Series’ season-opening Daytona 500.

Joe Gibbs Racing did not immediately announce a replacement for the No. 18 Toyota.

As Busch was being treated in a hospital, older brother Kurt was in front of NASCAR’s final appeals officer trying to get his indefinite suspension lifted.

Even if Busch wins the appeal, his Stewart-Haas Racing team appeared set to use Regan Smith in the Daytona 500 — meaning the race would go on without one of the Busch brothers for the first time since 2000.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Kurt Busch will miss the Daytona 500, and finds himself once again fighting for his career.

Busch was suspended by NASCAR indefinitely Friday after a judge said the 2004 former champion almost surely choked and beat a former girlfriend last fall and there was a “substantial likelihood” of more domestic violence from him in the future.

The suspension came two days before the season-opening Daytona 500, and Busch immediately said he’d appeal.

Although an appeal can be heard as early as Saturday, Stewart-Haas Racing has already decided to use Regan Smith in the Daytona 500.

The move to Smith by SHR, perhaps spurred by Chevrolet’s decision to suspend its affiliation with Busch on Friday, is a blow to the Busch camp.

“We ask everyone’s patience as this case continues in the court of law and are confident that when the truth is known Mr. Busch will be fully vindicated and back in the driver’s seat,” Busch attorney Rusty Hardin said in a statement, adding the assault allegation has led to “a travesty of justice” that will become clear as Busch continues to defend himself.

Busch is the first driver suspended by NASCAR for domestic violence. Chairman Brian France had maintained the series would let the process play out before ruling on Busch’s eligibility — and the series came down hard in finding that he committed actions detrimental to stock car racing and broke the series’ behavioral rules.

Travis Kvapil, who qualified second for Friday night’s Truck Series race, was arrested and charged with assault of his wife in 2013. NASCAR took no action against Kvapil.

But it’s a different time in sports since former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice’s own case of domestic violence forced leagues to take a harsh stance against participants accused of assault.

After the suspension was announced, on the glass outside of Busch’s garage stall at Daytona, someone had scrawled in black marker “#41 Ray Rice.” Busch drives the No. 41 Chevrolet.

In a 25-page opinion explaining why he issued the no-contact order this week, Family Court Commissioner David Jones of Delaware concluded that it was more likely than not that Busch abused Patricia Driscoll by “manually strangling” her and smashing her head into a wall inside his motorhome at Dover International Speedway last September.

The 36-year-old Busch has denied the alleged assault, which is the subject of a separate criminal investigation, but the judge said Driscoll’s version of the incident was more credible than Busch’s.

Driscoll said she was never motivated to have Busch punished by NASCAR.

“I reported a crime, just like anybody else who has been abused should do, because no one is above the law,” Driscoll said. “I’m very encouraged that NASCAR is taking steps to recognize that domestic violence is a serious issue, and I hope that we see them develop a very clear policy on it.”

It is Busch’s third career suspension. He was suspended in 2012 by NASCAR for threatening a reporter, and parked for the final two races of the 2005 season by Roush-Fenway Racing after he was pulled over by police in Arizona.

He now races for SHR. Busch has 25 career wins but only one since 2011. It came last year, his first season with SHR, the team that helped resurrect his career.

Team co-owner Gene Haas hand-picked Busch to drive a car paid for out of pocket by Haas because the machine tool manufacturer wanted to see a driver take his company to victory lane. Busch was fired at the end of 2011 by Roger Penske for a series of on- and off-track incidents, and he spent two seasons driving for low-budget teams before Haas extended the olive branch.

Busch had been on a resurgence of sorts at SHR, which allowed him to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day last year. He finished sixth at Indianapolis last May and was named rookie of the race.

But his season began to unravel late last summer as his performance tailed off. Although he made the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, he was eliminated after the first round.

It was the weekend of the first elimination race, at Dover, where Driscoll alleged Busch assaulted her in his motorhome.

She said she drove to the track out of concern for Busch, who sent her alarming text messages following a poor qualifying effort. She said the two argued in the bedroom section of the motorhome before he slammed her head against a wall three times.

Driscoll did not file charges until November, and the Delaware attorney general has not decided if Busch will be charged.

But Driscoll sought a no-contact order, and the couple spent four days over December and January in a Delaware court presenting their sides. At one point, he accused of her of being a trained assassin.

SHR said only that Smith, who filled in on short notice for Tony Stewart at Watkins Glen last August, would race Sunday. No plans were announced for next week’s race at Atlanta, but since Haas pays for that car specifically for Busch, the team co-owner could conceivably park it if Busch does not win his appeal.

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“We would love to see Fox break our record,” said Jon Miller, president of programming for NBC Sports and NBCSN. “A healthy Daytona signals a healthy NASCAR, which is good for everyone.”

ESPN and TNT are out. Fox is in and so is NBC, which is back in the NASCAR business nine years after the final Daytona 500 to air on the network drew a record 11.3 rating with an average of 19.4 million viewers.

NASCAR’s 10-year deal with NBC Sports Group begins this season and gives the network the final 19 Sprint Cup Series races of the season and final 19 Xfinity races. NBC last broadcast races in 2006 before ESPN took over its portion of the schedule.

Fox Sports has a deal to air the first five months of Cup races beginning this season, and it also runs through 2024.

NBC Sports paid $4.4 billion for its rights and the Fox Sports deal is now worth $3.8 billion. This all puts NASCAR at $820 million a year for the length of the 10-year contracts.

The staggering sum has both networks expecting a ratings bang for their bucks, even as flat viewership and sagging attendance have socked the sport. Last year’s Daytona 500 averaged 9.3 million viewers in a race delayed more than six hours by rain. The 2013 edition won by Jimmie Johnson averaged 16.7 million viewers, but down from nearly 18 million who watched in 2007 and 2008.

NASCAR Chairman Brian France said his series is still “one or two” for American sports viewers every weekend from February to September.

“When you judge it all, we’re pretty comfortable that this is not only the most dominant motorsport in North America by a wide margin, but we’re competing nicely with the most competitive sports landscape in the world,” he said.

NBC still has time to tinker before its July debut.

“We think we can bring a lot to the party and really help them regain their momentum and continue to grow the sport,” Miller said.

Up first, Fox is ready to wave the green flag on the NASCAR season with Sunday’s race. The race marks Fox’s 15th Daytona 500 following its debut in the 2001 edition marred by the death of Dale Earnhardt. Mike Joy, the play-by-play announcer, and analysts Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds have called every start, wreck and checkered flag over that span — punctuated, of course, by Waltrip’s “Boogity, boogity, boogity!”

“The main difference is that Fox Sports is an analyst-driven production,” Joy said. “You see that in football, baseball, and you see it in NASCAR. That in and of itself was a big culture shift from the way that CBS, ABC and NBC were putting sports on the air, where their anchors were at the top of the telecast and then they would fill in with analysts specific to a given sport.

“This was very different right from the start and I think that’s one of the big reasons it works so well.”

Fox will air 10 Sprint Cup races and Fox Sports 1 will air eight Cup races until the handoff to NBC for the July 5 race at Daytona. Fox (two races) and Fox Sports 1 (12) also have the first 14 races of NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series.

NBC will air just seven races, including the final three of the season, on network television. The other 12 will air on NBCSN, which airs in 85 million homes.

Fox can count on some star power in the Xfinity booth: former Cup champions and active drivers Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick will rotate as guest analysts for its telecasts. Gordon, a four-time champion, is adding to his race weekend workload before he ends his full-time Cup schedule after this season.

“Every Saturday, I’m in my bus watching the Xfinity races and I’m drawn to it,” Gordon said. “I’m learning from it as well as critiquing it.”

Gordon said his impeding exit from the sport has only “ramped-up the interest level” from both Fox and NBC for his services next season.

Maybe Gordon can ask former Hendrick Motorsports colleague Steve Letarte for advice on moving from the track to the booth. Letarte won the Daytona 500 last year calling the shots for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Letarte turned in his crew chief headset for an announcer’s earpiece for the NBC team.

He will join lead announcer Rick Allen and analyst Jeff Burton. Letarte left the weekly grind of NASCAR for the relative comfort of the booth for family reasons. The trio will make a dry run this weekend using Fox’s feed.

“I’m down here trying to understand the other side of the sport that maybe I don’t know,” Letarte said. “Heck, we won this race a year ago. I think that relevancy is really going to come through. I don’t think I have to put a tremendous effort into that in year one.”

He has a decade to figure it all out.

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In a nod to the often overlooked science behind races like Sunday’s Daytona 500, NASCAR announced Friday a commitment to promote “STEM” — the buzzword for science, technology, engineering and math — inside classrooms and out.

The NASCAR Acceleration Nation initiative focuses on the three D’s of speed — downforce, drafting and drag — and includes instructional materials for teachers.

The effort is a way for NASCAR to show the fun side of engineering and math and to encourage fans to view NASCAR in a new way, said Brent Dewar, NASCAR’s chief operating officer.

“A lot of people see cars racing and they love the sport for the sporting element of cars winning, and racing and passing,” Dewar said. “Behind all of that is pure science. It’s the horse power, and it’s drag and it’s aerodynamics.”

Driver Carl Edwards was a substitute teacher in Columbia, Missouri, long before he became known for his back-flip off cars after winning races. For him, one of the biggest teaching challenges was keeping students’ attention, and he hopes that bringing race cars into science discussions will spark interest.

Edwards said that with every lap, scientific data is involved, from tracking the statistical probability of crashing at different parts of the race to the amount of fuel used by the engine at different speeds in various throttle positions. Although he said he still uses the science and math he learned in school, Edwards wishes he’d learned even more.

“You can take any part of the car and talk about how it was engineered and why it’s designed the way it is to interact with the rest of the race car, and there’s a physics or a math or a science lesson in any of that,” he said.

As part of the initiative, NASCAR partnered with publisher Scholastic Corp. to develop fact sheets and quizzes primarily for middle school teachers focused on aerodynamics. An example of topics addressed: Why can race cars in a drafting formation lined up behind each other go faster than cars moving solo? (The answer is that the air acts like a vacuum and sucks trailing cars forward; leading cars also get a boost because the trailing cars push high-pressure air over the leading cars’ spoilers.)

About 7,400 kits will be mailed to teachers initially, but teachers can also go online to download the material and view online demonstrations. The effort includes a website for fans with math and other games and an interactive play area that children and teens can visit on race days.

NASCAR’s effort is part of a larger push in both the private and public sector to promote STEM out of concern for the nation’s global competitiveness and because of strong projected job growth in those fields.

Michael Lynch, a NASCAR executive involved with the effort, said NASCAR is tracking how students do on a quiz before and after using the material, so they can see what works and what needs to be changed.

NASCAR wouldn’t say how much it’s spending on the STEM-related activities.

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